Necessity Is The Mother of Invention

Things have been a little off-kilter around here lately.  But hopefully the stress and work of trying to sell our home will soon be replaced by the stress and work of buying the home we want.  And then that will be replaced by the stress and work of packing, moving, and unpacking.  Joy!

But back to the topic at hand, which is that because life is a bit unusual lately I've had to do some creative problem solving.  Two examples:

1) Cole is currently on his Seek And Destroy phase of life.  Seriously, that child is ALWAYS on the move and gets into EVERYTHING.  It's really quite impressive.

-Random Side Story-

Cole is finally getting tubes put in his ears on the 24th.  (HALLELUJAH!)  We had to get his hearing checked today as a preliminary to that.  For babies this is done in a small room with speakers on either side and electronic stuffed animals and flashing lights.  Pretty exciting stuff.  Cole had to sit on my lap.  It was like holding onto a caffeinated rhesus monkey during a tornado.  That child is simply incapable of sitting still.

-End of Random Side Story-

Anyways, one of Cole's favorite things is to get into the book shelf in the living room.  For a while I just put the books on top of the piano and bookshelf and called it good.  But this wasn't exactly attractive for home buyers, so I came up with this.

Yep, those are my couch pillows stuffed into the bookshelf.  As you can see, he is quite intrigued by these, but he's figured out that he's just not quite strong enough to pull them out.

It's pretty awesome.  I just pull them out right before we leave the house for a showing. 

It's nice to be smarter than my baby.  At least in this instance.

2) Today we made an unexpected trip to the park.  Even though I hardly ever do now, I actually had my hair down today.  (I have a haircut appointment for next week.  To chop or not to chop?)  Having long hair on a hot and humid summer day at the park is like wearing a fur scarf.  It's just miserable.  And for some reason I didn't have a hairband in my purse.  (Actually, I know the reason.  It's because lately I have been using my most awesome backpack to haul all our junk when taking the boys places.  All of my hairbands were in that instead.  Dang it.)

Anywho, as I dug around my purse I found the little rubber frog one of the boys had gotten at the library for joining the reading club.  Voila...

Yep. It kinda looks like I killed Kermit.  Hmmm... Oh well.  Little rubber frogs work pretty well!  Now if they could just do something about the frizziness that is my hair in humidity...

What about you?  Any wonderful discoveries born out of necessity lately?

Happenings

Just because I haven't been blogging as regularly doesn't mean much has been going on.  (Although today - not so much. We were supposed to have a home showing but it got canceled.  Sad.  Hence the blogging.)

Weekend
I scored a Kelty baby backpack at a garage sale last week and was super excited to try it out.  Cole enjoyed looking at the scenery, screeching in my ear, pulling my hair, and putting the icey cold water bottle on my neck.  Good times.

Isn't he just a doll?  He has these little blond curls on the back of his neck that make me melt.

He's also developing quite the personality.  At the end of our hike he refused to look at the camera because he was mad that he wasn't on the playground with his brothers Right. Then.  Cute - at this age.

We went to Happy Hollow to hike.  You'd think I was taking Spencer and Josh on a death march, they were so whiny and against it.  (Note to self: no more hikes anywhere with a playground.)  I only made them walk 15 minutes in before turning back, but you'd have thought it was three hours.  Sheesh. However, they were happily distracted by some old trees and a tiny little creek.

It was also the hottest and most humid days of the year, so at then end we all looked and smelled lovely.  Still, we're doing it again, whether they like it or not!

Monday
I took the boys to the $1 kid movie in the morning.  We saw Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief.  They changed it quite a bit from the book, but what I saw of it was still pretty good.  Spencer really liked it and talked about it all afternoon.  A few highlights during the movie:

• We got there just as some friends of ours were getting some popcorn.  They had a popcorn coupon book that they were afraid was going to expire, so they gave us one.  We got the 130oz tub with extra butter.  The boys were in HEAVEN.  (We never buy popcorn at the theater!)  Thank you so much, Roberts family!
• Cole actually sat on my lap and watched the movie for the first 30 minutes.
• After those 30 minutes I let him wander around on the floor.  (This was the kids' showing, so it was cool.)
• At one point while I was down on the floor with Cole I heard Josh calling my name.  I looked up and he was coming down the stairs with the popcorn tub on his head like a hat, as pleased as could be. "We ate all the popcorn!"  Everyone was quite amused.
• After some fussing I got Cole to fall asleep on my lap.  I had to cover his ears and face with his blanky and my hands because he would startle every time the movie got too loud.

Good times yet again.  I think we'll go back in a couple of weeks for the Spongebob Movie.  (Thus proving that I am, indeed, the most benevolent mother in the world.  I hate Spongebob.)

In the evening we had one of the worst storms I've ever seen here.  It got so bad that I actually took the boys into our storm shelter, a.k.a. Spencer and Josh's bedroom closet.  During that Lance called to let me know that the storm was so bad he had to pull over and wouldn't be home for a while. It started to hail.  Then the power went out.  Cole didn't want to be in the closet, but he didn't like hearing the thunder when he got out, either.  The power was out for 12 hours.  More good times.

Today
Cole thinks he is the world's best dishwasher helper.

He is not. 

I have told him this on several occasions, but he still insists on helping me anyways.  I suspect that by the time he is 12 he will want nothing to do with the dishwasher.  Such is life.

Josh, on the other hand, truly does excel at cookie making and tasting.  Let's hope there are some cookies left for bunko tonight!

Lance's Birthday

Poor Lance; his birthday is at a hard time of year, at least for our family.  It seems like there's always something going on; vacations, activities, bad weather, whatever.  Last year it was kinda ignored because I had had Cole a couple of weeks before.  And this year Lance had to work late on his birthday and the day after his birthday, and then he had a LAN party the day after that.

But instead of being all upset about it, Lance was his usual happy, laid back self.  His birthday wishes were as follows: 

1. Celebrate on the 12th instead of the 9th.
2. A shopping spree at the computer geek Mecca, Fry's Electronics, with no kids and no wives.  (And by shopping spree I mean with a very set budget.  Spree just sounds more fun.)
3. A Snicker's cheesecake.

Done, done, and done.

Here's how the cake turned out.  Tasty tasty.

Why yes, that is a super-spy holding his birthday candle.  A little inside joke between Lance and I.  Don't ask.  (Because I won't tell you.)

As per tradition, I forgot once again to take a picture of the birthday boy.  Oops.  But I did get a video of our wonderful singing!

Well, I might not have any pictures of him, but I do have 32 Lance fun facts for you to enjoy.  (I don't think I've ever done the whole Number-of-Birthdays-List thing before.  Feel privileged, Lance!)

1. Born at home in Vista, CA, where my brother, Kyle, now lives.  (Small world.)
2. Once crashed his jet ski into the beach when he was a kid.  Apparently he could have died or something.  
3. Is the middle child, but most certainly does not conform to most middle child stereotypes.  Except for the non-conforming thing.
4. Loves Dr. Pepper.
5. Loves horror movies.
6. Is the LANily Home Evening Capo di Tutti Capi (a.k.a. Godfather)
7. Let me name Spencer and Josh, but ended up being the one to decide on Cole.  (I had come up with the name Cole, but I wanted to name him Oliver.  Lance put his foot down.  I'm glad he did.)
8. His paternal grandfather's middle name was William, his father's first name is William, Lance's middle name is William, and Spencer's middle name is William.  
9. We've lived in this house for 4 years, which is the longest time Lance has ever lived in one place.
10. A few of his favorite childhood movies include Tron and The Last Starfighter.  This probably explains a lot to some of you.
11. Thinks he's too cool for Facebook.  Perhaps he is.
12. Favorite wife is Maren. (Just making sure you're paying attention.)
13. Has a somewhat unhealthy addiction to any and all things pasta.
14. Has a way of cleaning a baby's face after they've eaten that makes everyone (including the baby) laugh.  I'll try to record it some time.
15. Is a TV snob.  Don't deny it, Lance.
16. Would play video games for a living, if he could.  (Okay, that's just an assumption on my part.)
17. Transferred from SUU to the UofU so I would marry him.  (I was NOT willing to live in Cedar City.)
18. Can fall asleep in approximately 39.2 seconds.  I'm totally jealous.
19. Luuurrrvvvess going on long car trips with all of the kids.  Oh wait a sec - I mean, he hates that.
20. Refuses to cut the umbilical cord because, "That's what we're paying the doctor for." 
21. Hates watching baseball.  (Oh, the shame.  Baseball is the best.)
22. Has seen every single episode of the X Files ever.
23. Really likes me with long hair.  Sometimes I humor him with this.  (Like now.)
24. Has been the Ward Executive Secretary for over four years.  That's a long time.
25. Is the reigning Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party champion in our home.
26. Should be nicknamed "The Computer Whisperer".
27. Is mildly afraid of spiders.
28. Favorite meal at McDonald's is the #2 - two cheeseburgers, fries and a drink.
29. Says the same thing to me every time I leave for bunko: "If you don't win a prize, don't bother coming home."  This makes me laugh, mainly because we all know that I very rarely win anything.
30. Brings home a little love note for me every day after work.
31. Still gets lost in Lafayette sometimes.  Okay, maybe not lost.  But he likes taking the long way sometimes.
32. Can read my mind.  No, really.

Lance is often in the background of my blog; he's not really in the spotlight much.  (That's mainly because he's not quite as cute as the boys when he runs around in his underpants or make huge messes when he eats.)  But he's definitely the best part of my life and I'm so glad to have him in it.  I love you, Lance.  Happy birthday!

Rough Sunday

At the end of Sacrament meeting today I was covered in various amounts of:

• drool
• milk
• mushy fish crackers
• half-chewed raisins
• tiny, razor-sharp, brand new teeth bite marks
• spit up milk
• poop (not exagerating)

Going to church with a one year old is tough.  Especially on my church clothes.

Quote of the Day

We're watching the morning news about the oil spill in the gulf.

Spencer: Hey look!  I think it's the quorum of the twelve apostles!
Me: Uh, Spencer?  That's congress.

This is Not So Fun

Today started off pretty well.  I had been told we had at least three house showings scheduled for this afternoon.  I scrubbed and cleaned all morning.  Despite the boys' attempts at getting everything as dirty as possible, I was even done a bit early.

I decided to take them to McDonald's for lunch, rather than have to clean up after them.  Again.

We got our food with no tantrums; the kids ate; Cole stole our food; no one minded; the boys played on the gigantic playground; I pondered the overuse of semi-colons.  Then I got a phone call asking if they could show my house in 10 minutes.  Haha!  Of course!  We were already gone!  I am awesome for leaving early!  AWESOME!!

Forty minutes later I got a frantic phone call for my realtor.  The second showing couldn't get into the house; the key wasn't working.  Could I hurry and drive home and let them in?

Oh crap.

Excuse my language. But what else could be said?

So I rounded up the boys, wiped the ketchup off of their faces, and rushed them out to the van.  Luckily, we had been there long enough that there were no tantrums about this sudden departure.  Plus, Josh and Spencer seem to really understand a lot about what is happening and why.

(Side note: this morning I discovered that Josh thought that when we sold the house, all of our belongings would be sold as well.  He talked about how the "new people in our house" would really like his dinosaurs.  It just about broke my heart.  I quickly explained that we got to take everything with us, even (and especially!) his dinosaurs.  The thing is, he seemed to be fine with the idea of leaving everything behind.  He's either really sweet, or doesn't really understand as much as I think he does.)

Breaking several traffic laws I was able to get home in record time.  I figured we had just had a bum key in the lock box.  I tried my key.

No dice.

Frantic, I tried again.

Now the realtor and the family were walking up to the door.

Again, not budging.

I started rambling on about how this had never happened before and how our locks and keys had always worked.  Ah!  Umm...!  Embarrassment!  So sorry!  Please by my house at full asking price!  

I went in through the garage and opened the front door.  Once inside I realized that some of the lights that I know I had left on were now off.  So I knew that the previous realtor had gotten in; something must've gone funky with the lock when they left.

I told the realtor to please just leave the door unlocked once he left so the other showings could get in.  Then I hopped into the van (where I had left my kids watching "Pink Panther" cartoons) (bless you, installed DVD system!!), drove down the street, around the corner, and then parked so I could call my realtor and then Lance, because when I get all worked up and whatnot I have to call Lance.  That's just my thing.

The rest of the afternoon passed mostly without incident: a trip to Home Depot to buy a new front door lock, a trip to the library, and then a trip to DQ to redeem some summer reading coupons.  (Cole, by the way, would not eat the ice cream at DQ.  What in the world is wrong with that kid?)

We didn't get home until 4:30pm.  I was exhausted.  I passed out on the couch for a good 45 minutes.  I awoke to Josh poking me, demanding dinner even though less than two hours earlier he had eaten his ice cream cone and most of Cole's.  

I made dinner.  I cleaned up the huge mess that the boys make with dinner.  

I bathed the boys.  I cleaned up the huge mess that the boys make while bathing.  

I yelled at Spencer for dragging Cole around the room with his blankie tied around his neck.  Miraculously, no mess with that.

I put the boys to bed.  Surprisingly, there was a mess with that.

I wished Lance were here to help.  But he's working late.  Again.  And he won't be here tomorrow night, either.  And I'm just tired of never having a break from the boys, because even though I really love them, by 6pm I've pretty much had all I can take.

And then I cleaned up the other random messes I found around the house that must have occurred during my snooze on the couch.  Why in the world did some child find it necessary to lick the back door windows?  Some mysteries are better left unsolved, I suppose.

And now I'm here, on the couch, whining on my blog.  This whole selling of the house thing?  Not so fun.  Seriously, if I am to keep my sanity, this house needs to be sold soon.

And then it'll be on to buying the new house, packing up this one, moving, and unpacking.  And all of the fun associated with that.

*sigh*

Excursions

In an effort to keep the kids from destroying my perfectly pretty much clean house while it's on the market, I have decided that mornings will be for cleaning and other household chores and afternoons will be for excursions.

Or field trips, as Spencer calls them.  Because Josh can't say excursions.

I have a bunch planned.  Most involve just going to the park and letting them run themselves to exhaustion.  Others are based around doctors appointments and errands. (I know - fun.) 

Yesterday I decided to take the boys to the train depot and pedestrian bridge.  They were pretty sure they were going to get to ride a train, an idea I soon had to dash.  (Mean mom.)  But they had lots of fun going on the bridge and watching for the trains.  (We ended up seeing only one black engine.  Kinda disappointing, but Josh sure was thrilled.)

For those not from this area, Lafayette and West Lafayette are separated by the Wabash River.  There are several bridges connecting the two cities, including a pretty nice pedestrian bridge.  The boys had a grand time running around and looking into the water and throwing leaves over the side.

Josh couldn't hold still for a single picture.

Cole could.  But only because he was strapped into the stroller.

As you can see, the river was pretty swollen and muddy from all of the spring rain we've been having.  This California girl is still always impressed with it's size.  (What Westerners consider rivers, Mid Westerners consider creeks or maybe just drainage ditches!)

The boys enjoyed climbing on every surface, including this sundial.  

We got to the other side and decided to go on a little hike along the river.  I am continually amazed at the quality of parks we have here in the area.  Seriously - lots of good parks all over the place.  (Are you interested in moving here?  I know a great house that's for sale...)  I just love how lush and green everything is here in the summer.  Kinda makes up for the bleak and barren winters.  Kinda.

The Worrier Spencer was sure that I was going to get us all lost and we'd never be found again.  Never mind the fact that he's never been lost with me and that we were on a paved trail along a large river.  He also acted as if it were a death march, and not a quick jaunt down the trail.  Sheesh.  That kid can complain.  Luckily for him (but not for us) the bugs were pretty thick and I had forgotten our bug spray.  Still, I made us go farther than I normally would have just so he didn't think we were turning back because he wanted to.  That's just good parenting.

Josh and Cole had a wonderful time, though.  I see lots of walks in our future for this summer.  Sorry, Spence.

We crossed the bridge again and walked around old downtown Lafayette.  I hadn't really been in that area in quite a while and I was surprised at how many nice little restaurants there were that I haven't been to.  Then I looked at my wild banshee children who were hollering while zooming up and down the street and remembered why I haven't been to these places.  I totally want to go to La Scala and eat on the patio or see what all the fuss is about Bistro 501.  (*hint*hint* Lance) 

Just when Spencer was sure he was going to die (I think he really just wanted to be home playing on the computer), we stopped in to a local candy shop, McCord Candies.  I thought the boys would get a kick of each choosing a chocolate to buy.  But they wanted nothing to do with all of those delicious handmade chocolates or the yummy malted milkshakes; instead, they each chose a giant cookie.

Seriously?  Who are these children?  They certainly cannot be my progeny, turning down chocolate like that!

No matter.  Josh chose a chocolate chip cookie the size of his head.  It was pretty good.

Spencer chose a peanut butter cookie the size of Cole's head.  It was most excellent.  (Good choice, Spence.)

Cole and I chose to eat bits of both.  Cole is a pretty laid back baby, except when it comes to food.  When he wanted more cookie, he really let us know about it!

Both Josh and Cole slept for 90 minutes after we got home, which I think is an excellent sign of a good excursion, despite Spencer's protests to the contrary.  (Contrary child!) Well, if he didn't like that, then he'll certainly love today's plans: an orthodontist appointment for him and then a riveting trip to Target!  Woo-hoo!